Similarity and Novelty Metrics: A Machine Learning Framework for Audience Extension

In the domain of digital advertising, a principal imperative is the precise identification and engagement of a target audience—comprising both extant consumers identified from historical data and potential prospects convertible into future patrons. A persistent and substantive challenge in this endeavor lies in constructing targeting constraints that not only capture existing behavioral patterns but also extrapolate toward highpropensity yet unobserved audience segments. This strategic expansion, commonly designated as audience extension, has conventionally been addressed through greedy cover algorithms, which prioritize audience volume to the exclusion of nuanced performance indicators. In this study, we present a methodological augmentation of the greedy framework by incorporating dual performance metrics—similarity and novelty—as evaluative criteria. The proposed algorithm introduces a multi-objective optimization framework that facilitates the judicious expansion of audience segments while preserving representational fidelity to the original cohort. We empirically substantiate the efficacy of our framework through multiple case studies, demonstrating its superiority in balancing quantitative performance with qualitative audience alignment.

1. Informatics Engineering, an International Journal (IEIJ), Vol.9, No.1/2, June 2025
DOI : 10.5121/ieij.2025.9201 1

SIMILARITY AND NOVELTY METRICS: A MACHINE
LEARNING FRAMEWORK FOR
AUDIENCE EXTENSION

Sarthak Pattnaik and Eugene Pinsky

Department of Computer Science, Metropolitan College, Boston University, Boston

ABSTRACT

In the domain of digital advertising, a principal imperative is the precise identification and engagement of a
target audience—comprising both extant consumers identified from historical data and potential prospects
convertible into future patrons. A persistent and substantive challenge in this endeavor lies in constructing
targeting constraints that not only capture existing behavioral patterns but also extrapolate toward high-
propensity yet unobserved audience segments. This strategic expansion, commonly designated as audience
extension, has conventionally been addressed through greedy cover algorithms, which prioritize audience
volume to the exclusion of nuanced performance indicators. In this study, we present a methodological aug-
mentation of the greedy framework by incorporating dual performance metrics—similarity and novelty—as
evaluative criteria. The proposed algorithm introduces a multi-objective optimization framework that
facilitates the judicious expansion of audience segments while preserving representational fidelity to the
original cohort. We empirically substantiate the efficacy of our framework through multiple case studies,
demonstrating its superiority in balancing quantitative performance with qualitative audience alignment.

KEYWORDS

Digital advertising, audience extension, greedy algorithm, novelty metric, targeted marketing

1. INTRODUCTION

Over the years, the landscape of advertising techniques has undergone a significant transformation.
Traditional advertising approaches, which relied on broadcasting campaigns to large audiences, have
lost their effectiveness in the face of changing consumer behavior, technology advances ([1], [2], [3])
and the use of machine learning techniques ([4], [5], [6], [7]). In response to this shift, digital
advertising techniques have taken center stage, with a major portion of advertising budgets now
allocated to precisely target audiences at the right time and place [8]. Data management platforms
(DMPs) have emerged as indispensable tools in this new era of advertising, enabling the collection
and integration of vast amounts of data from various sources [9]. DMPs store valuable information
such as historical campaign data, demographics, credit scores, and more, empowering advertisers
with insights to make informed decisions about their audience targeting strategies [10]. A simple
illustration in Figure 1 shows a sample advertiser segment.

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Figure 1: An example of an advertiser segment

In this context, the problem of audience extension has gained prominence ([11], [12], [13]).
Advertisers often encounter situations where manually created audience segments cover only a
fraction of the total target population [14]. As a result, they need to expand their audience reach
to meet desired performance metrics [15]. Audience extension refers to creating a new segment that
resembles the initial audience cover but also includes novel members with the potential to become
future customers [16]. This problem can be viewed as a general machine learning problem where
we look for patterns or classification based on similarity and difference metrics ([17], [18]).

Among the common approaches to audience extension is the ”greedy cover” algorithm, which is
widely used in digital advertising ([19], [20]). However, this algorithm has limitations, and
researchers have identified several pitfalls that can hinder its performance ([21], [22]). Therefore, it
is essential to investigate the shortcomings of the existing algorithm and explore modifications that
can lead to optimal results in addressing the audience extension problem [23]. This research aims
to examine the ”greedy cover” algorithm and its effectiveness for audience extension. By reviewing
existing literature and conducting empirical analysis, this study seeks to provide insights into the
strengths and weaknesses of the algorithm, along with potential enhancements to achieve superior
audience targeting outcomes ([24], [25]).

This paper is organized as follows: In Section 2, we outline the existing literature that is available on
this domain. In section 3 we explain the mathematical concepts that play a crucial role in the
formulation of the proposed approach. Section 4, we define our proposed methodology for audience
extension. In Section 5, we provide three examples to illustrate and compare the performance of the
greedy cover algorithm and the similarity-novelty-based approach for audience extension. Finally, in
Section 6, we summarize the pertinent findings from our research that generalize the results that we
have obtained.

2. RELATED WORK

2.1. What is Audience Extension?

Consider the global e-commerce giant Amazon and its strategic foray into a new market. When
Amazon expands to a new region, it faces the challenge of building a customer base from scratch
while ensuring a high engagement rate and conversions. Traditional marketing methods, although
reliable to some extent, do not provide the granularity needed for targeted outreach in a new
market.

Here is how Amazon employs advanced audience extension techniques to overcome these chal-
lenges, ensuring a successful market entry. Imagine Amazon launching its services in a country

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without a prior customer base. Amazon creates an initial audience segment based on basic demo-
graphics, online behavior, and product interests to maximize its reach. However, this segment is
relatively small, considering the vast population of the new market. To thrive, Amazon needs to
expand this segment intelligently, targeting individuals who are likely to buy and become long-term,
loyal customers. Amazon utilizes its wealth of data and machine learning algorithms to analyze
many factors. These include social media interactions, search queries, wish lists, and even cursor
movements on their platforms. By processing this data, Amazon identifies patterns that indicate
potential customers’ preferences, interests, and purchasing intent. Machine learning algorithms
predict behaviors, allowing Amazon to pinpoint individuals likely to engage and convert [1]. With
the insights gained, Amazon tailors its marketing strategies. Personalized product recommenda-
tions are sent to the identified potential customers. These recommendations are not generic; they
are meticulously curated based on individual preferences, ensuring relevance and resonance. This
tailored approach significantly increases the likelihood of click-through and conversions, as cus-
tomers feel a personal connection to the offerings [2]. Amazon doesn’t stop at the initial outreach.
Through real-time monitoring of customer interactions, Amazon continuously adapts its strategies.
For instance, if a particular audience segment shows more interest in electronics, Amazon fine-tunes
its outreach efforts to emphasize technology products. This adaptability ensures that marketing
efforts remain relevant and compelling, maximizing the return on investment (ROI) [8].

Amazon employs a robust analytics system to measure the success of its audience extension
efforts. Metrics such as click-through rates, conversion rates, and customer lifetime value are
meticulously tracked. Amazon compares these metrics with those from markets where similar
strategies were not employed. By quantifying the impact, Amazon validates the effectiveness of
its audience extension techniques empirically [19]. Beyond immediate sales, Amazon’s strategic
audience extension efforts have a profound long-term impact. Satisfied customers from the initial
outreach phase tend to become loyal patrons. They make repeat purchases and contribute positively to
Amazon’s brand reputation through word-of-mouth and online reviews. Amazon’s focus on
quality audience extension thus builds a robust customer ecosystem, ensuring sustained growth
and market dominance in the new region.

The Amazon example underscores the power of advanced audience extension in reshaping mar- ket
entry strategies. By harnessing big data, machine learning, and personalized experiences,
Amazon transforms a mere audience segment into a thriving customer base. This case study
demonstrates that in the digital age, precision and personalization in audience extension are not
just advantages; they are imperatives for businesses aiming to expand and thrive in new markets.
Amazon’s success story serves as a testament to the transformative potential of applying machine
learning to strategic audience extension efforts in global e-commerce.

2.2. Greedy Cover Algorithm

We start with the description of the greedy cover algorithm presented in [26]. For advertisers, it
is crucial to explicitly define a range of quantitative metrics by which the extended audience
segment should be evaluated. In the majority of instances, advertisers seek an expanded audience
size that surpasses a specific threshold while also achieving elevated retention rates compared to
the initial coverage, all accompanied by notably improved performance metrics such as clicks and
conversions ([21], [27]).

sim(S, S
′
) > α, perf(S
′
) − perf(S) > β, and | aud(S ∪ S
′
) | ≫ | aud(S) |

The predominant approach frequently employed for audience extension is the greedy cover al-
gorithm. This method is an extension of the greedy set cover algorithm presented in this. Before
delving into the workings of this algorithm, it is imperative to explain a few core concepts under-

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pinning audience segments. Let us assume that the advertiser has delineated an audience segment
based on a set of features {c1, c2, c3, . . . , cn}. Consequently, any potential audience member be-
longing to this segment must encompass these features. However, this does not necessarily dictate
that these features constitute the entirety of the audience members’ attributes. The greedy cover
algorithm aspires to encompass the initial audience coverage while augmenting the audience’s scale to
reach a predetermined threshold. The procedure employed in the greedy approach is explicated in
Algorithm 1.

Algorithm 1 Greedy Cover algorithm to extend audience

Require: Initial Segment S, Inventory of available segments Ω, required audience size N
Ensure: Extended audience cover Aext
1: Sort available segments in Ω in descending order by size
2: Initialize Aext = {}
3: for each segment S
′
∈ Ω with S
′
⊇ S do
4: if |S
′
| ≥ N then Add S
′
to Aext
5: end if
6: end for
return Aext


Although the greedy cover algorithm is a substantially easy-to-apply algorithm, it may not
provide the advertiser with the best audience cover. Here are some of the pitfalls of the greedy
cover algorithm:

• The algorithm does not consider the percentage of novel audience added the advertising
segment. The algorithm accepts the extended audience cover as long as it covers the initial
segment and surpasses the cumulative audience size required by the advertiser.
• The algorithm fails to consider the cost for a certain number of impressions when incorporating
an extended audience cover.
• The algorithm does not compare the initial audience and the extended audience cover with
respect to various performance metrics (clicks, return on investments, conversions, etc.)

Therefore, the subsequent sections of this paper endeavor to devise an approach that would
perform the imperative task of overcoming the limitations of the greedy cover algorithm. To
perform a quantitative analysis of the novel audience added, we use various statistical measures,
which are described in detail in the next section [19].

3. SIMILARITY AND NOVELTY METRICS

When extending an audience segment, two significant quantitative variables come into play, de-
termining the viability of the extended segment for achieving better performance compared to the
initial coverage ([19], [28]). The term similarity denotes a quantitative estimate indicating the de-
gree to which the original audience coverage is preserved within the extended segment [27]. On the
other hand, novelty represents an estimation of new audience members included in the extended
segment who were not part of the initial coverage. To express these concepts mathematically, we
denote the original coverage and the extended audience segment as S and S
′
, respectively. The
mathematical formulations for the similarity and novelty metrics are as follows:



In a previous research paper [29], a similar methodology was employed where the similarity between the

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advertisement campaign and multiple campaigns, which are part of the historical dataset, were
calculated using the Hamming and the Jaccards distance. A subset of nearest neighbors is formed,
which consists of historical campaigns that have a value of similarity below a certain threshold. In
this way, the algorithm augments the cumulative impressions of the target advertisement campaign to
meet the demands of the advertiser. The approach that we propose, however, is aimed at pro-
viding the best-extended cover that covers the original customers while at the same time adding
candidates who have the potential to become customers in the future. Ideally, advertisers seek a
balanced relationship between these two metrics. The extended audience segment should encom-
pass a substantial portion of the initial coverage while simultaneously introducing novel audience
members [21]. Figure 2 illustrates the similarity and novelty between the original segment (S) and
the new audience segment (S’).



Figure 2: Similarity between original segment S and novel segment S
′


The performance of the extended audience segment is predicated on the similarity and novelty
value. Advertisers determine whether to accept an extended audience coverage based on these
performance metrics. The value of both these statistical metrics lies between 0 and 1. When the
value of the similarity metric is 1 and the novelty metric is 0, the extended audience cover overlaps
with the initial cover. However, when the novelty metric is 1 and the similarity metric is 0, then the
advertiser would target a completely new audience base without retaining any existing customers.
Both these extreme situations are worst-case scenarios for advertisers, as in the first case, the result
is more or less similar to the results obtained through the greedy cover algorithm. On the other
hand, in the second case, the advertiser would be losing its customer base to a new set of audiences
that may or may not provide the desired results. Apart from these far-end conditions, there are a
multitude of cases that may come to the foreground. These are described below in detail:

• Case I: Maximum Similarity:

There are two subcases, illustrated in Figure 3



Figure 3: High Novelty

1. no novelty: (S = S
′
) This is illustrated in subfigure (a). The original and the extended (new)

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segment are exactly the same. The similarity metric is 1 while the novelty metric is 0.
2. maximum novelty (S = S ∩ S
′
). This is illustrated in subfigure (b) of Figure 3. The
extended segment covers the original segment, along with adding a significant number of
novel audience members. The similarity metric is 1 and the novelty metric is quite high.

• Case II: Low Similarity, No Novelty (S
′
⊂ S):

This case is illustrated in Figure 4


Figure 4: Low Similarity, No Novelty

The extended segment is a subset of the original segment, therefore there is abysmal similarity and no
novelty. The similarity metric is low and the novelty metric is 0.

• Case III: No Similarity, Maximum Novelty (S ∩ S
′
= ∅)

This is illustrated in Figure 5



Figure 5: No Similarity, Max Novelty

The initial cover and the extended audience segment are disjoint. Here, the value of the similarity
metric is 0 but the novelty metric is the 1.

• Case IV: Some Similarity, Some Novelty ((S ∩ S
′
̸= ∅) and (S ∩ S
′
̸= S) and (S ∩ S
′
̸=
S
′
))

When there is some overlap between the initial cover and the extended segment, the values of the
similarity and the novelty metrics exist between the two extremities. As one increases, the other
decreases. This is illustrated in Figure 6




Figure 6: Some Similarity and Some Novelty

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Therefore, there are two broad sub-cases that exist when neither of the two metrics are leaning
towards extreme values. The detailed description of the sub-cases are mentioned below:

1. Low Similarity, High Novelty: This is shown in the left subfigure (a) of Figure 6. The
extended segment has a small overlap with the original segment. Therefore, the novelty
metric is high with a low value of the similarity metric.
2. High Similarity, Low Novelty: This is shown in the right subfigure (b) of Figure 6. The
original segment overlaps significantly with the new segment. This is exactly the opposite
of case IV, here the similarity metric is high whereas the novelty metric is low.

After analyzing all five scenarios, we can surmise that ideally, advertisers would want the extended
audience segment to cover the initial audience at the same time, add a significant amount of novel
audience members. Therefore, the advertiser wants the extended segment to achieve maximum
similarity (similarity metric should be ideally 1) along with a high value of the novelty metric. Out
of all the scenarios mentioned above, Case II gives the best result. In the next section, we will
describe our proposed algorithm to overcome some of the pitfalls associated with the greedy cover
algorithm and obtain better performance.

4. THE PROPOSED SIMILARITY-NOVELTY METRIC BASED ALGORITHM

Refinements to the greedy cover algorithm involve the computation of the novelty metric for the
extended segment concerning the original coverage. The advertiser must establish a threshold for
an acceptable level of novelty within an extended audience coverage. From the selected covers that
meet the novelty threshold, the advertiser should proceed with the extended segment that boasts a
considerable audience size and conversion rate, all achieved with an optimal cost per thousand
impressions. Algorithm 2 comprehensively captures the novelty-similarity metric approach. Similar to
the greedy cover algorithm, the initial cover consists of a segment of the population satisfying a
broad spectrum of conditions based on a set of features. When the advertiser perceives that
campaign requisites are unmet by the initial cover, they relax the stringent criteria applied to the
features. This approach enables the similarity measure between the original and extended segments to
attain its peak while simultaneously amassing a novel set of audience members to the population. It is
important to note that there is a clear distinction that we observe in this approach. Unlike the
greedy cover algorithm that returns a set of possible inventories, this approach returns a single
extended audience segment that provides the best quantitative result to the advertiser. To test this
method we will perform a case study of a sample Kaggle dataset which consists of conversion data
from previous advertisement campaigns.

Algorithm 2 Novelty-Similarity metric based algorithm

1: Input: Initial cover {S}, Inventory Ω, User-defined Novelty threshold 0 ≤ α ≤ 1, required
additional impressions N
2: Output: Optimal extended segment
3: procedure SIMILARITY-NOVELTY ALGORITHM(S, α)
4: Initialize variables: MaxImps=Imps(S), MaxCR=CR(S), MinCPTI=CPTI(S)
5: for all S
′
∈ Ω do
6: if Nov(S, S
′
) > α & Imps(S
′
) >N & CR(S
′
) > MaxCR & CPTI(S
′
) >
MaxCPTI
then
7: Update MaxImps
8: Update MaxCR
9: Update MinCPTI
10: end if

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11: end for
12: Return S
′
with MaxSize, MaxCR, and MinCPTI
13: end procedure


5. CASE STUDY: KAGGLE CONVERSION DATA

To comprehend the effectiveness of the modifications applied to the conventional greedy approach
algorithm, we will examine a practical implementation of the novelty-similarity-based approach
described in the earlier section using the Kaggle conversion dataset. This dataset comprises adver-
tisement campaigns with three target features: Age, Gender, and Interest. The advertiser chooses
the initial coverage while imposing conditions on each constraint. We will generate six extended
audience segments for every initial coverage by gradually relaxing one or multiple constraints. We
shall then compare the initial coverage with the extended audience segments using a variety of
performance metrics, ultimately determining the most favorable outcome among the extended seg-
ments. The metrics used to compare the performance of various extended segments are the number of
impressions (Imps), cost incurred (Cost), cost per thousand impressions (CPTI), number of clicks the
campaign garners (Clicks), total conversions (Conv), approved conversions (App), conversion rate
(CR). We present three case studies that illustrate unique situations that surface with the changing
novelty threshold and the difference in the overall performance of the various extended covers. In
these cases, we primarily observe how the results obtained from the greedy cover algo- rithm differ
from what the novelty-similarity metric-based algorithm generates. The three cases can be
broadly described as:

• The first case study we present is the most commonly observed scenario where the choice
of the best audience cover differs with the changing novelty threshold and these results are
different from what the greedy cover algorithm provides.
• The second case study is the best possible outcome that any advertiser would want. Here,
we will observe that the results from both approaches overlap, providing a segment with the
largest audience size, maximum impressions, a reasonable cost, and a high conversion rate.
• The third case study is a specific subset of the first case study as it provides the same result
for different novelty thresholds in the novelty-similarity approach but this result differs from
the one provided by the greedy cover algorithm.

5.1. Case Study 1

We present in-depth information about our initial coverage, and we have identified six extended
segments corresponding to this initial coverage, shown in Table 1. We have chosen the six extended
segments in a way that maximizes the similarity metric between the original and the extended
audience while at the same time incorporating new audience members into its fold. Table 2 shows a
comparative analysis of the quantitative performance of various extended audience covers on a
multiplicity of mathematical metrics. These are measured against the initial cover to surmise the
best performance scenario at a reasonable cost and high conversion rate. Table 3 shows the value
of the novelty metric for each of the extended audience covers with respect to the initial cover. To
observe how the extended covers perform against the initial cover especially when it comes to the
cost incurred for thousand impressions and conversion rate, we have used bar charts in data
visualization in Figure 7.

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Table 1: Audience segments for case study 1

Audience Segment Target Constraints
Initial Cover (Segment 0) (Age=30-34 and Gender=M and Interest=15)
Extended Segment 1 (Age=30-34 and Gender=M)
Extended Segment 2 (Age=30-34 and Interest=15)
Extended Segment 3 (Gender=M and Interest=15)
Extended Segment 4 (Age=30-34)
Extended Segment 5 (Gender=M)
Extended Segment 6 (Interest=15)

Table 2: Performance Metric Analysis for case study 1

Segment Imps Cost CPTI Clicks Conv App CR
0 4,846,178 956.90 0.197 510 108 37 34.26
1 36,421,443 7,640.92 0.209 4,384 812 299 36.82
2 6,515,339 1,348.51 0.206 772 147 45 30.61
3 7,002,876 1,496.33 0.213 847 131 48 36.64
4 67,993,019 15,252.40 0.224 9,483 1,431 494 34.52
5 98,571,981 24,202.61 0.245 14,287 1,620 584 36.04
6 10,745,856 2,597.26 0.241 1,609 195 63 32.30

Table 3: Calculating final quantitative measures for case study 1

Audience Segment Novelty Score Audience Size
1 0.93 229
2 0.34 23
3 0.50 30
4 0.96 426
5 0.97 592
6 0.70 51




Figure 7: Cost and Conversion Rates for case Study I

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Table 4 captures the results obtained from the novelty-similarity metric and the greedy cover
algorithm (α = 0). The greedy cover algorithm gives segment 5 the best-extended audience segment
as it encapsulates the maximum audience size. The novelty-similarity metric algorithm results in

Table 4: Comparison of Similarity-Novelty and Traditional Greedy Approach for Case Study 1

α Accepted
Segments
Best
Segment
Imps CPTI Conv
Rate
0 (Greedy) 1,2,3,4,5,6 5 98,571,981 0.245 36.04
0.5 1,3,4,5,6 1 36,421,443 0.209 36.82
0.7 1,4,5,6 1 36,421,443 0.209 36.82
0.9 1,4,5 1 36,421,443 0.209 36.82
0.95 4,5 4 67,993,019 0.224 34.50

changes with the values of α. At α = 0.95 segment #1 did not qualify as it did not qualify the
novelty threshold.

5.2. Case Study 2

We present in-depth information about our initial coverage, and we have identified six extended
segments corresponding to this initial coverage shown in Table 5. We have chosen the six extended
segments in a way that maximizes the similarity metric between the original and the extended
audience while at the same time incorporating new audience members into its fold. Table 6 shows a
comparative analysis of the quantitative performance of various extended audience covers on a
multiplicity of mathematical metrics. These are measured against the initial cover to surmise the
best performance scenario at a reasonable cost and high conversion rate. Table 7 shows the value
of the novelty metric for each of the extended audience covers with respect to the initial cover. To
observe how the extended covers perform against the initial cover, especially when it comes to
cost incurred for thousand impressions and conversion rate, we have used bar charts in data
visualization in Figure 8.

Table 5: Extended Audience Covers for case study 2

Extended Segment Target Constraints
Initial Cover (Segment 0) (Age=35-39, Gender=M, Interest=25)
Extended Segment 1 (Age=35-39 and Gender=M)
Extended Segment 2 (Age=35-39 and Interest=25)
Extended Segment 3 (Gender=M and Interest=25)
Extended Segment 4 (Age=35-39)
Extended Segment 5 (Gender=M)
Extended Segment 6 (Interest=25)

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Table 6: Performance Metric Analysis for case study 2

Segment Imps Cost CPTI Clicks Conv App CR
0 472,984 121.37 0.256 72 4 1 25.00
1 20,665,139 5,051.08 0.244 2,933 322 112 34.78
2 830,612 229.67 0.276 149 15 02 13.33
3 2,647,123 687.23 0.26 413 42 13 30.96
4 42,104,644 11,112.43 0.264 7,094 626 207 33.06
5 98,571,981 24,202.61 0.245 14,287 1,620 584 36.04
6 5,251,719 1,603.86 0.305 1,066 78 19 24.36

Table 7: Calculating final quantitative measures for case study 2

Audience Segment Novelty Score Audience Size
1 0.978 139
2 0.625 8
3 0.700 10
4 0.987 248
5 0.994 592
6 0.884 26



Figure 8: Cost and Conversion Rates for case Study II

Finally, Table 8 shows the most desirable result for advertisers. In this case, the results obtained from
the greedy cover algorithm and the novelty-similarity metric algorithm for every value of α

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Table 8: Comparison of Similarity-Novelty and Traditional Greedy Approach for Case Study 2

α Accepted
Segments
Best
Segment
Imps CPTI Conv
Rate
0 (Greedy) 1,2,3,4,5,6 5 98,571,981 0.245 36.04
0.7 1,3,4,5,6 5 98,571,981 0.245 36.04
0.75 1,4,5,6 5 98,571,981 0.245 36.04
0.95 1,4,5 5 98,571,981 0.245 36.04
0.98 4,5 5 98,571,981 0.245 36.04

are the same. Here, audience segment #5 has the maximum audience size, highest conversion rate,
highest impressions, and the highest novelty score at a reasonable cost per thousand impressions.

5.3. Case Study 3

We present in-depth information about our initial coverage and we have identified six extended
segments corresponding to this initial coverage shown in Table 9. For each of these extended
segments, we have computed the novelty metric and the final audience size in Table 10. Performance
metrics, including cost per thousand impressions and conversion rate, are shown in Figure 9 and
have been computed for both the initial audience coverage and the the extended segment is shown in
Table 11.

Table 9: Extended Audience Covers for Case Study 3

Extended Segment Target Constraints
Initial Cover (Segment 0) (Age=40-44, Gender=F, Interest=7)
Extended Segment 1 (Age=40-44 and Gender=F)
Extended Segment 2 (Age=40-44 and Interest=7)
Extended Segment 3 (Gender=F and Interest=7)
Extended Segment 4 (Age=40-44)
Extended Segment 5 (Gender=F)
Extended Segment 6 (Interest=7)

Table 10: Performance Metric Analysis for Case Study 3

Segment Imps Cost CPTI Clicks Conv App CR
0 89,378 30.51 0.341 24 2 1 50
1 23,396,175 7,396.57 0.316 5,177 322 93 28.88
2 333,393 98.57 0.295 72 5 2 40
3 535,040 163.92 0.30 115 15 3 20
4 39,604,307 11,589.73 0.292 7,736 523 170 32.50
5 114,862,847 34,502.62 0.30 23,878 1,644 495 30.11
6 2,612,839 648.93 0.248 410 59 19 32.20

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Table 11: Calculating final quantitative measures for Case Study 3

Audience Segment Novelty Score Audience Size
1 0.971 107
2 0.400 5
3 0.700 10
4 0.985 210
5 0.994 551
6 0.875 24



Figure 9: Cost and Conversion Rates for case Study III

Table 12: Comparison of Similarity-Novelty and Traditional Greedy Approach for Case Study 3

α Accepted
Segments
Best
Segment
Imps CPTI Conv
Rate
0 (Greedy) 1,2,3,4,5,6 5 114,862,847 0.300 30.11
0.50 1,3,4,5,6 4 39,604,307 0.292 32.50
0.75 1,4,5,6 4 39,604,307 0.292 32.50
0.90 1,4,5 4 39,604,307 0.292 32.50
0.98 4,5 4 39,604,307 0.292 32.50

Finally, Table 12 shows the results of this case. In this example, the novelty-similarity metric-
based algorithm gives the same result for all values of α due to its high novelty value. However,
the results differ from those obtained through the greedy cover algorithm.

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In summary, we have explored three broad situations that encapsulate many different results that
we may get when we apply the greedy cover algorithm and the novelty-similarity metric-based
algorithm with varying thresholds to a given advertisement campaign. The first instance is a general
case where the results of both algorithms are different, and these change with the threshold for the
novelty-similarity metric. The second instance is the most favorable outcome for the advertiser,
where he gets the best aspects from both the algorithms. The third instance is a specific outcome
described as a subset of the first. Although the results do not vary within the varying values of the
novelty threshold, they differ from the one given by the greedy cover algorithm.

6. CONCLUSION

This investigation has introduced a principled enhancement to the classical greedy cover algorithm
for audience extension by integrating rigorously defined similarity and novelty metrics. The re-
sultant framework subsumes the conventional greedy approach as a limiting case but significantly
extends its utility by enabling a more discriminating selection of extended audience segments.
Through a series of empirically grounded case studies, we have demonstrated that the proposed
algorithm affords advertisers a quantitatively and qualitatively superior mechanism for audience
amplification, with demonstrable gains in conversion efficacy and cost-efficiency. Looking forward,
we envision that the similarity-novelty paradigm may serve as a foundational construct for broader
applications, particularly in collaborative filtering and recommender systems. Its integration could
endow advertising platforms with an expanded repertoire of machine learning tools capable of pro-
ducing bespoke audience recommendations, thus advancing the frontier of data-driven marketing
strategy.

DECLARATIONS

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS

All authors contributed equally to this work.

FUNDING

This research was conducted without any external funding.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We thank the Department of Computer Science at Boston University for their support.

DATA AVAILABILITY

All the relevant data and analysis are available via:
https://drive.google.com/?????

15. Informatics Engineering, an International Journal (IEIJ), Vol.9, No.1/2, June 2025
15
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